Levels of competence

[JimConway]

The five levels of competence apply to friearms as well as almost every field on endeavor. I thought that some of you may have some interest. The levels are:

Intentionally incompetent - IIC We all see this guy on the range. He is the one that shoots poorly and never asks for any form of help. He is too embarassed to ask for help.

Unconsiously incompetent - UIC
One example of the UIC is the police officer who only shoots to pass his qualifications. He often says the he will never have to use his gun, so why practice when he always passes his quals. The UIC also may believe that a man is born knowing how the shoot. (Any thoughts about this Lynne from your classes. For me I find it much easier to teach a woman to shoot)

Consciously incompetent - CIC
If you are thinking of getting instruction (and not just for the fun of taking a course with your buddies), you have probably realized that you have more to learn. You are on the right road to competency.

Consciously competent - CC
The CC is able to perform any firearm manipulation on demand but has to think about the steps in the procedure. All that he needs is more time and a lot of repetitions to become a CC.

Unconsciously competent - UC
The IC when faced with a situation simply does what is needed, without thinking about of any of the steps. To maintain this level, a lot of practice time is needed.

I do not know why these definitions came to mind this morning, but I find them helpful. What level of competency is correct for you and what level do you want to reach? Think about it. It may be very important.

 

[Nickle]

I like that. I would say I'm in the CIC group, Possibly a lower end CC.

I pass my qualification easily with the M9 (92FS Beretta, Military Issue), even achieving a moderate level of competence (by the Army's standard).

I practice some, and know that I need and want further training.

 

[Lynne]

Unconsiously incompetent - UIC
One example of the UIC is the police officer who only shoots to pass his qualifications. He often says the he will never have to use his gun, so why practice when he always passes his quals. The UIC also may believe that a man is born knowing how the shoot. (Any thoughts about this Lynne from your classes. For me I find it much easier to teach a woman to shoot)

Oh yeah...the worst one was a young man who had just gotten out of the army (sorry guys ). He acted completely bored, sighed a lot, twiddled his thumbs, looked around the room, etc. I didn't say anything to him as there were others in the class, but I got my "shot" in when we got to the range. He SUCKED!! He couldn't even hit the edge of the target at 15 feet!! (and that was only the .22). I finally had to take the gun, put it down on the rest and turned him to look at me. I asked him if he was ready to listen to me, or did he want to flunk the course? I then told him that if he would listen to what I was telling him (I picked up the gun and drilled the X then laid it back down on the rest), then he'd be able to shoot like that. He turned 15 shades of red, but he finally listened and started to shoot better.

There's been others as well, but not to his extent. And yes, women are much easier to train, although I've had some really good male students who weren't afraid to say "I don't know a thing about it." and really did listen.

 

[Lynne]

BTW - I'd probably rate myself as a UC/CIC. There's always room for improvement.

 

[Weerd Beard]

I love lists like this.

I'm around a CC with hints of UC.

The best thing about practice is it's Fun as hell!!

Arrrr

-Weer'd Beard

 

[C-pher]

Even though I've been shooting for a long time. I still think that I'm a CIC. Because I've never had any "Formal" Training. I just shoot and get tips from family members, and shooters at the club.

I'm sure that I'm chalked full of bad habbits...and am currently working on getting training for improvement.

I think that maybe before I came to this site, I would have been more between UIC and CIC. Only because I never really carry because I never did get any training. And I think that with the responsibility that comes with carrying a firearm, you should have some. Too many people just carry without having any training.

And because I always thought that I was a good shooter. Then I came to this site and it opened up my eyes to all the different people with a diverse set of training under thier belts. And I found that I might not know as much as I once thought that I did.

 

[Weerd Beard]

I think I need to Reneg on some of my confidence....I'm really oly bourderline UC with a 1911 since I've been shooting one for so long (and frankly obsessed with them)

Put somthing new in my hands and I'm an INSTANT CIC to CC.

-Weer'd Beard

 

[JRyan]

Consciously incompetent - CIC
If you are thinking of getting instruction (and not just for the fun of taking a course with your buddies), you have probably realized that you have more to learn. You are on the right road to competency.

I know I have quite a ways to go, and I have plans to get there.

Interestingly enough, the same list can be applied to musicianship.

 

[matt]

CIC - but working towards CC. I've recently recently decided to start working through the NRA qualification shooting courses as a way to monitor my progress. I needed to set some goals for myself.

 

[Chris]

Most long guns are definately CC or even CIC at this point. I have not seriously picked up a rifle or shotgun for practice in a LONG time. Actually, the last time was when I did my NRA instructor cert in both. Before that had to have been back before college when I was still shooting small bore.

CC for revolver. I pop off the .500 every now and then, but have not done any serious practice with the wheelguns in a while. Been thinking about taking that snubby class and see if it sparks some interest.

I'd like to say that I'm better than CC with a semi-auto pistol, but having been sick, I'm sure I need to get some cycles back into the system.

One of the female instructors I had a long time ago at a certain famous Arizona firearms academy looked at all us Testosterone pumping students and informed us all that:

"Men think they are born experts at three things - Shoooting, Driving, and having sex. I'll tell you right now, y'all need serious training for all three."

What's amazing is just how true that statement seems to be. With very few exceptions, the female students are the easiest to get a point across, and usually the first to get good hits on paper. As Lynn said, I see plenty of husbands that are "here for her" that needed the class more. (^_^) I'm sure driving instructors would tell you similar stories. I'll leave the sex part as an exercise for the reader. (^_^)

The truly competent shooter - actually this applies well to most anything - is the one that never stops learning. It's the person who thinks that they know it all that you need to look out for.

 

[JimConway]

Unconsciously Competent

The words "Unconsciously Competent" are very high praise in any field of endeavor. In the world of shooting it is rare indeed to see or even hear of a person that is really "Unconsciously Competent" In my class this past weekend, the instructor - Tom Givens, mentioned that an acquaintance of mine is a one. When he spoke it was with a tone of almost reverence.

 

[Brownie]

Jim,

Nice list of competency levels.

I'm not going to mention where I stand in this list however.

It would be subjective anyway. I notice there are 343 views on this with nary a reply, that tells us something right there doesn't it?